Déjà vu?

Adria Airways CEO, Klemen Boštjančič, has announced that if Adria Airways’ pending privatisation process fails, a single airline for the former Yugoslavia will need to be created as no carrier in the region has the chance to survive in the current economic climate. “If the sale of Adria to a foreign partner fails, then our last chance is for regional integration with Croatia Airlines, Jat Airways and Montenegro Airlines”, Boštjančič told one of Slovenia’s most popular web portals - “SiOL”. The news comes a week after the Association of European Airlines urged Adria Airways to take a leading role in the integration of the former Yugoslav aviation market.

Adria’s CEO notes that Brussels has already shown support for the creation of a single airline for the former Yugoslavia. “Croatia will soon become an EU member and Serbia and Montenegro are not far off”, Boštjančič adds. However, Adria will first attempt to put itself on the market to foreign airlines. By the end of the month a financial consultant will be chosen to assist the Slovenian carrier with its privatisation process. While Boštjančič says that there is interest in Adria, he notes, “We and the government have to do everything in order for Adria Airways to get a new owner but I do not know whether we will succeed”, adding that regional cooperation must develop simultaneously with the privatisation process. Currently, many bigger players in Europe such as LOT Polish Airlines and Czech Airlines are awaiting privatisation.

Adria Airways already enjoys cooperation with airlines in the former Yugoslavia. It has code share agreements with both Jat Airways and Montenegro Airlines. Klemen Boštjančič says that regional integration could fail out of purely political reasons. All of the national EX-YU airlines ended 2011 with multi million euro losses. Once again the debate over a single national carrier for the countries of the former Yugoslavia reopens, 21 years after its break up.

Summer changes for Croatia Airlines and Jat

On March 25 the 2012 summer season begins. Croatia Airlines and Jat Airways will both introduce new routes and increase frequencies.

Croatia Airlines has kept its summer frequencies out of Zagreb similar to last year, however, there will be some small cuts to flights in the EX-YU region. The Croatian national carrier will cut one flight each to Priština, Sarajevo and Skopje. Istanbul will see an addition of three weekly flights compared to last summer season. The airline will introduce a new service from Split to Belgrade, Rijeka to Barcelona and new flights from Zadar to Frankfurt and Paris.

Jat Airways will be increasing frequencies to most key destinations. Services to Moscow and Zuirch will see a boost of three flights with the two cities to be served ten times per week. Flights to Brussels have now been separated from the Amsterdam service and passengers will be offered a total of five weekly flights. The airline introduces new destinations this summer to London Gatwick, Malta, Pula and Split.

By clicking on the links below, you can view the 2012 summer season changes in more detail. Note that the tables display the peak weekly frequencies for each destination during the summer (keep this in mind especially for domestic flights within Croatia and flights between Belgrade - Tivat - Podgorica as some services operate only for several weeks). Over the next week the 2012 summer season changes for Adria Airways, B&H Airlines and Montenegro Airlines will also be published.

Croatia Airlines • Jat Airways

More passengers and new control tower for Belgrade

The Serbia and Montenegro Air Traffic Services Agency has announced that it will finance the construction of a new control tower at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport. Construction will begin next year and is set to be completed by 2014. According to the agency, the land on which the tower will be built has been selected and work on the project design is now in progress. The new tower will stand at 52 metres tall. The current air control tower, being used at Serbia’s busiest airport, was built back in 1962. In 2010 the multi million euro Air Control Centre was opened within the airport complex.

Meanwhile, Belgrade Airport continued to report growth in 2012. In February the airport welcomed 173.606 passengers, an increase of 6.6% compared to the same month last year when it handled 162.813 passengers. The airport was served almost by the same amount of flights - 2.988 compared to last year’s 3.010. In the first two months of the year, Nikola Tesla Airport welcomed 388.185 passengers through its doors, an increase of 13.7% compared to the same period last year.

This summer, Belgrade will see new Croatia Airlines flights to Split which replace Dubrovnik from last year, new flights from Copenhagen by Norwegian Air Shuttle, a 23% increase in flights from Jat Airways while Air One and Qatar Airways will also launch flights to the Serbian capital this summer season.

Scandinavian model for former Yugoslavia suggested

The Secretary General of the Association of European Airlines, Ulrich Schulte Strathaus, has told the Slovenian daily “Dnevnik” that in order for the national carriers of the former Yugoslavia to survive they will need to unite into a single airline. “The once single Yugoslav market is now fragmented and a regional solution is necessary. The region needs an airline that would cover local needs and connect with global hubs”, Strathaus says. He notes that he recently discussed the issue with Adria Airways’ management. “It would be great if Adria Airways, which has extensive knowledge of the Balkan market, were to initiate a regional summit which would be dedicated to this issue, however, due to political quarrels I doubt this could happen”, Strathaus adds.

The Association of European Airlines counts 34 members, mostly national carriers. Adria Airways, Croatia Airlines and Jat Airways are all members. Montenegro Airlines also used to be a member of the association but mysteriously left after a few months. Strathaus believes that certain markets in the former Yugoslavia are too small to have their own national carrier. He notes that Serbia can’t find an investor for Jat, Croatia Airlines and Montenegro Airlines are operating with mounting problems and that B&H Airlines will go bankrupt when Turkish Airlines ceases financing it.

Last year, an idea to unite the former Yugoslav aviation market was put on the table during talks between the Serbian government and Turkish Airlines. It was suggested that a regional airline, Balkan Airways, could serve as a national carrier for Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Macedonia. In September 2011, Croatia Airlines and Adria Airways reached an agreement over a common business plan model. The two airlines agreed to strengthen ties and cooperate on jet leasing as a means of improving efficiency and streamlining fleet utilisation.

B&H resumes operations

B&H Airlines has resumed operations with a single ATR72 and will operate flights to Istanbul. It’s Airbus A319, will soon rejoin Turkish Airlines’ fleet as the carrier abruptly ended its lease of the aircraft to B&H on February 27.

Snow hits Jat’s passenger numbers

Jat Airways has seen its passenger numbers stumble for the first time in over a year as snow storms and numerous cancellations take their toll. This February Jat handled 62.289 passengers, down 9% on the same month last year. The number of flights operated in February 2012 fell 10%. During the month, numerous flights were cancelled to one of Jat’s busiest markets - Montenegro. As a result, passenger numbers fell 33% on services to Podgorica and Tivat. On Euro Mediterranean flights passenger numbers decreased 5%, while Jat handled 37% more passengers on charter flights compared to February 2011.

So far this year, Jat Airways has welcomed 137.197 passengers onboard, the same as last year. The average cabin load factor for the two months stood at 63%, which is six points ahead of the same period last year. Despite February 2012 having an extra day, as it is a leap year, the three busiest airlines of the former Yugoslavia saw their passenger figures decline. Adria Airways saw its numbers slump due to a decrease in the number of operated flights while Croatia Airlines and Jat were forced to cancel flights due to bad weather.

Meanwhile, Jat has announced that it will resume its seasonal services to Girona in Spain this summer. Flights will launch on June 5, twice per week, with a Boeing 737-300. The aircraft will have an all economy class layout with 126 seats. As a result, this summer, besides Girona, Jat resumes flights to Malta, Dubrovnik, Pula, Split, Ohrid and launches London Gatwick.

Month	PAX	Change (%)	Average load factor (%)
JAN	74.908	▲ 8	66
FEB	62.289	▼9	63

Soon in Belgrade

Qatar Airways will launch services to Belgrade in September this year, connecting the capitals of Qatar and Serbia with an air link for the first time in history. The Qatari national carrier will operate four weekly flights to Belgrade, the airline’s CEO, Akbar Al Baker, said at the ITB Convention in Berlin yesterday. Flights will operate via the Turkish capital Ankara, four times per week with an Airbus A320. It is highly unlikely that the airline will receive commercial rights on the Ankara - Belgrade - Ankara sector. Passengers most likely to use the service are those transiting to far east Asia and Australia.

The news comes as the Qatari national carrier plans to launch services to the Croatian capital Zagreb on May 9. The flights to Zagreb will operate on a daily basis via Budapest. The airline does not have local traffic rights on the Budapest - Zagreb - Budapest sector.

From September, Qatar Airways will go into indirect competition with the no frills Fly Dubai which will be operating five weekly nonstop flights from Dubai to Belgrade this coming summer season. Jat Airways, which planned to resume services to Dubai this summer has decided against the move for reasons unknown. However, Jat will have the most competition on its hands. Fly Dubai has failed to attract transit passengers and is being used primarily by point to point travellers. On the other hand, Jat, which continues to enjoy strong cooperation with Emirates, has simply rerouted its passengers transiting to Australia via European cities served by Emirates rather than directly via Dubai since it suspended flights to the city in November 2011.

Soon in Belgrade

The Croatian national carrier will compete against Jat Airways on the Split - Belgrade service this summer season, a source close to the airline says. Croatia Airlines has applied for a license from the Serbian Aviation Directorate. The flights will replace last year’s summer service from Dubrovnik to Belgrade. They are to be operated by the Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft.

This summer season, Jat Airways will operate two weekly flights between the Serbian capital and Split. In 2011, the two airlines went head to head on the Belgrade - Dubrovnik line twice per week. The Serbian national carrier on average, per flight, carried approximately 45 passengers on its 66 seat ATR72, while an average of 30 passengers chose Croatia Airlines. However, flights were sold out during peak season. So far, Jat has been selling return tickets for its Split service at a price of between 113 and 130 euros.

This summer will see the most air links between Croatia and Serbia since the breakup of Yugoslavia, with services between Pula, Split, Dubrovnik and Belgrade. During the 1980s the Belgrade - Dubrovnik flights were JAT Yugoslav Airlines’ most popular with thousands of passenger per year.

UPDATE

Since the publication of this news item Croatia Airlines has officially confirmed it will launch services between Split and Belgrade, twice per week, every Monday and Friday from June 1. Flight details can be viewed here.

New hangar for Jat Tehnika

Jat Tehnika has announced the construction of an additional hangar at Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport which will be able to handle a Boeing B737 next generation aircraft as well as the Airbus A320. Furthermore, necessary equipment is being purchased in order for the maintenance company to begin work on servicing Airbus jets this summer. During the week, the Serbian government gave its approval for Tehnika to take out a five million euro loan in order to finance its new endeavours. The loan will be repaid within the next five years. Jat Tehnika, which was separated from Jat Airways in 2006, expects to see an increase in business as a result of the new investments.

Tehnika currently has three hangars at its disposal at Belgrade Airport. Two are used for medium sized aircraft and can fit three jets each at one single time while the third hangar is for larger aircraft and can fit two Boeing 747-400s. Besides Jat, the company currently provides maintenance to airlines such as Jet2.com, NordStar Airlines, Astraeus Airlines and Transaero.

Meanwhile, Jat Airways has announced that it has resumed operations at terminal two at Belgrade Airport. The carrier was forced to move to the older terminal one due to expansion wok being carried out at Serbia’s busiest airport. Furthermore, the airline has launched a new frequent flyer program for passengers on March 1.

USA to give all clear

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States is to grant Serbia a “category one” rating this year, paving way for scheduled flights between the United States and Serbia. As part of the FAA’s International Aviation Safety Assessment (IASA) program, the agency assesses the civil aviation authorities of all countries with air carriers that operate or wish to operate to the United States and makes that information available to the public. The assessments also determine whether or not foreign civil aviation authorities are meeting international safety standards. Specifically, the FAA determines whether a foreign civil aviation authority has the adequate infrastructure for international aviation safety oversight as defined by international standards.

The head of the Serbian Civil Aviation Directorate, Nebojša Starčević, has told the media that Serbia has applied for an assessment by the FAA, with the review set to take place by August. “Serbia meets all international safety standards and there is no doubt that American authorities will confirm this”, Starčević said. He noted that obtaining the category one rating would be much quicker if an airline were to apply to launch flights between the two countries. Serbia held a category one rating until 2002 when it was downgraded to category two. It has since been reviewed twice when there was both the will and political backing for Jat Airways to launch flights to the United States, in 2004 and 2006. While it is highly unlikely for the Serbian carrier to be able to launch flights to the United States now, a category one rating would give it rights to code share on flights operated by airlines from the United States. However, Starčević remains optimistic, saying that Jat could be ready to launch flights to the US by 2014.

The announcement coincides with the opening of a tender by Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport for interested parties to work on the development of a feasibility study for flights between the Serbian capital and the United States. The last commercial flight betwen Belgrade to the United States was operated by JAT Yugoslav Airlines on May 19, 1992 from New York. Recently, on January 27, 2011 the FAA granted Croatia a category one rating.

No Tripoli comeback for Jat

Jat Airways has cancelled plans to resume services to the Libyan capital Tripoli this summer. Flights were to launch on March 26, more than a year after they were suspended due to the implementation of a no fly zone over Libya which eventually led to war. The Serbian carrier planned to operate flights to Tripoli as a triangle service via Malta (Belgrade - Malta - Tripoli - Belgrade), as it has done so in the past few years.

Most European airlines will resume flights to the Libyan capital this summer, including Austrian, British Airways, KLM and Air France. Recently, sporadic gun fighting between rival clans has been reported near Tripoli Airport. Before the fall of the Gaddafi regime several Serbian engineering and construction companies worked in Libya with Jat flights mostly being used by workers. With all investments now stalled there is little need for the planned two weekly flights to resume.

Despite the cancellation of its Tripoli service Jat will go ahead and launch flights to Malta which were suspended when services to Tripoli were dumped. The airline has pushed back the launch date for the Malta service to June 18 and has slightly revised its flight times. Details can be found here.

Soon in Belgrade

Alitalia’s low cost subsidiary Air One will launch flights from Milan to the Serbian capital, ending Jat Airways’ monopoly on the service. Flights from Milan Malpensa Airport to Belgrade will launch on September 18 and will operate three times per week with an Airbus A320. Flight details can be found here. Air One’s new service will compete directly against Jat Airways, which plans to operate six weekly flights onboard its Boeing 737-300 this coming summer season. Alitalia will continue to code share on Jat Airways’ services to both Milan and Rome.

Air One does not operate flights to other former Yugoslav republics. Last September the airline scheduled services to Zagreb, however, due to poor ticket sales, the planned flights were cancelled. Air One will expand this summer as it add new destinations to its route network besides Belgrade such as Munich, Sofia, Brussels, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Bucharest, Saint Petersburg, Barcelona, Istanbul, Kiev and London Gatwick.

Air One merged with national carrier Alitalia in January 2009, though it continues to operate as a separate brand. The two use an integrated booking system. Air One operates a fleet of seven Airbus A320s, with a further three arriving soon. Some of its aircraft have a high density cabin layout of up to 180 seats while others have a somewhat smaller capacity.

Construction work at Belgrade Airport

Construction work on the modernisation and expansion of Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport is in full swing. Currently, work is being carried out on the A gate departure lounges and transit areas. By mid summer the airport will have completed the expansion and reconstruction of its C1-2 and A1 to A6 gates. As a result, an extra 2.750 square metres will be added. After the summer rush, expansion work will begin on gates C3-4 and C5-6, the airport says. Air bridges at the A gates, which belong to terminal one, are also to be replaced. An additional new floor stretching over 4.900 square metres will be built above the current terminal two building with construction to begin next year so as to separate arriving and departing passengers.

Construction work at terminal two

Work has also begun on the expansion of the terminal two security and passport control area. Due to a big increase in passenger numbers, long queues are now a constant at the airport, especially during the morning rush hour period. The “Aviokarta.net” portal reports that new x-ray and body scanner machines will be added to cut waiting time, with Belgrade becoming the first airport in the former Yugoslavia to use specialised shoe scanners. The new technology was first rolled out in the United States in 2010. They should cut down on queuing times as the machines do not require passengers to take their shoes off for security checks. Work on the security and passport control area will be completed by the start of the 2012 summer season, on March 25. This has resulted in Jat Airways having to temporarily move its check in operations to terminal one.

Visualisation of Belgrade Airport after expansion completion

Within the next three years 52.985.000 Euros will be invested into the airport. Belgrade is not the only airport in the former Yugoslavia being modernised. Soon it will be known whether a new terminal will be built in Zagreb, while a new terminal is already under construction in Priština. Last September, Skopje Airport opened its new terminal building while Ljubljana Airport will begin construction on a new terminal later this year. Work on the expansion of Sarajevo's terminal is expected to begin this year as well.

Passenger numbers up in 2012

Jat Airways has had a solid start to the year, by handling 74.908 passengers in January, an increase of 8% compared to the same month last year. This is despite a drop in the number of operated flights by 7%. The average cabin load factor stood at 66% a big 10 point increase on last year.

Despite persistent media speculation regarding Jat’s future and increased competition, results show passengers are returning to the Serbian carrier. In January, on flights heading to and from Podgorica and Tivat, Jat recorded a 23% passenger increase. On Euro Mediterranean services numbers were up 5% while charter flights saw a 410% passenger increase, although it should be noted that the number of operated charters increased by 100%. Last year they were mostly inexistent during the winter months.

Jat ended 2011 as the second busiest airline in the former Yugoslavia by welcoming 1.219.703 passengers. Its revenues were also significantly up although its actual profits and losses will be known once the official financial results are published. A total of nine promotional ticket sales last year could hit the airline’s finances despite them leading to passenger growth.

Without a clue what to do…

The Serbian Prime Minister has denied claims that businessmen will invest millions into Jat Airways and take a 50% share in the airline. This is despite the fact that during last week the Serbian Minister for Infrastructure, which oversees the aviation portfolio and is known for various gaffes, claimed that businessmen, together with the government, would create a successor to Jat by May. The Prime Minister says that a decision whether Jat will continue to operate in its current form or whether a new national carrier would be created hasn’t even been made yet, although he remains adamant that Serbia needs a national carrier. Some of the mentioned businessmen interested in Jat spoke out last week saying they are willing to invest.

Source : EXYU aviation news : http://exyuaviation.blogspot.com has since learned that Jat’s management is due to submit a revival plan to the government. The plan entails a solution to Jat’s future as well as a fleet plan. Furthermore, the Serbian government has approved arrangements for Jat to take out a 10 million Euro loan from the banks to be paid off within the next three years. It has not been disclosed to the public as to how the money will be spent. Jat is gearing up for one of its busiest summer operations in years, which it plans to carry out with 13 aircraft.

Meanwhile, a delegation from the Russian plane manufacturer Sukhoi will be visiting Belgrade in the coming weeks in an attempt to sell its Superjet 100 model to the Serbian national carrier. The aircraft has the capacity to seat between 75 to 95 people depending on class structure. Jat still has an unsettled order for 8 Airbus A319 jets from 1998.

In your opinion, what is the way forward for Jat? Send a comment.

EX-YU cities loose Budapest flights after Malev collapse

Following Malev’s demise on Friday, EX-YU cities have been left without direct air links to Hungary’s capital Budapest, which, amongst other things, attracted many transit passengers. None of the national carriers of the former Yugoslavia have attempted to introduce flights to Budapest and try to scoop stranded passengers. On Friday Lufthansa, easyJet, Wizz Air and Air Berlin were quick to react and increase frequencies while Ryanair announced over thirty new destinations to the Hungarian capital.

Malev had an extensive network in the former Yugoslavia operating flights to Belgrade, Priština, Podgorica, Sarajevo, Skopje and Zagreb. The Hungarian national carrier operated nine weekly flights to Belgrade. Recently, the airline had seen sliding passenger numbers on the route as more competition saw fewer transit passengers. The airline planed to reduce the service to one daily flight from the 2012 summer season. Malev operated two daily flights to Priština and thirteen weekly to Skopje, from which it saw numerous transit passengers. There were no plans to either increase or reduce flights over the coming summer. Sarajevo enjoyed daily flights and Podgorica six weekly while nearby Zagreb saw 18 weekly services between the two cities this winter. None of the former Yugoslav national carriers operate flights to the Hungarian capital and none have jumped at the opportunity to inaugurate services between the two cities since Malev’s demise. While the Hungarian low cost airline Wizz Air is based in Belgrade, it is unlikely it will be tempted to launch flights between the two cities as its aircraft are too big and inter Eastern European flights have proved unsuccessful for the airline in the past.

Officials at Budapest Airport, one of the biggest losers of Malev’s grounding, said it doubts the flights will ever be reinstated. "There are some estimates that over 20 or 23 routes of Malev will never be served by other airlines", airport spokesmen Mihaly Hardy said. It is believed that the Hungarian government will work to set up a new national carrier by the start of the 2012 summer season, which begins in over a month. It remains to be seen whether EX-YU destinations, on which Malev had a complete monopoly, will be resumed.

Flight delays and cancelations across EX-YU

UPDATED 21.00 CET

Snowstorms, fog and freezing weather have disrupted flight operations across the former Yugoslavia. Podgorica has been closed on and off for the past three days while Sarajevo Airport closed its doors this morning until 20.00 CET. In Belgrade meanwhile, the airport was evacuated when an anonymous call came that there was a bomb on board Air France's jet, which turned out to be false.

Both snow and fog are proving to be a problem at Sarajevo Airport. Sarajevo closed this morning with all departures cancelled for the day. Nearly all flights from Sarajevo were cancelled yesterday as well. Only early morning departures and B&H Airlines’ flights to Zurich and Istanbul were unaffected. Austrian was forced to divert its evening Sarajevo service to Belgrade. Operations resumed in the evening hours with Austrian, Jat and Croatia Airlines performing their flights as normal.

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport saw short delays throughout the day however there was some panic after an anonymous phone caller said there was a bomb onboard an Air France jet which was being prepared for its return flight to Paris. The airport was forced to evacuate and the flight cancelled although no bomb was found. The caller, a 62 year old from Bor, was later arrested. He said he was “only having some fun”. It was later disclosed that the man in question is mentally challenged.

In Montenegro, most flights to and from Podgorica Airport have been cancelled for the last three days due to heavy snowfall. There is now a big backlog of passengers on the Podgorica - Belgrade - Podgorica service with both Montenegro Airlines and Jat Airways cancelling most flights between the two cities. The two airlines attempted to operate flights to Tivat yesterday but before making their descent into the coastal city were forced to turn back to Belgrade. In order to clear the backlog of passengers Jat planned to operate an early morning service to the Montenegrin capital at 4.40 today but has cancelled the flight.

In Skopje, Priština and Ljubljana, flights have been operating normally (other than those to Montenegro) although all with an average forty minute delay. Out of all the airports in the former Yugoslav region, Zagreb was operating most smoothly with nearly all flights taking off from the airport yesterday, registering only minor delays. Split Airport has been closed due to snow and extreme winds reaching up to 180 kilometres per hour.

All of Eastern Europe is grappling with a Siberian freeze which is spreading westwards. Freezing conditions, which have claimed hundreds of lives across the continent, are set to persist for days to come.

Even more passengers lining up at Belgrade Airport

Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport is continuing to record impressive growth in the new year. Serbia’s main hub welcomed 214.579 passengers, an increase of 20.1% compared to last year’s 178.732. January also saw the end to the decline in the number of flight operations. Since October the airport has been recording a slide in the number of flights being operated to and from Serbia’s capital. Last month, however, Belgrade handled a total of 3.304 flights, an increase of 5.4% compared to last year. The airport’s busiest route is Vienna with 49 weekly flights followed by Podgorica and Frankfurt.

Meanwhile, the airport is continuing construction work on the overhaul of its departures area. Yesterday, Jat Airways moved all of its operations to terminal one. The airline says that all check in procedures will now be carried out at the old terminal due to construction work taking place at the airport. However, some are suggesting that Jat has decided to move because of lower costs at terminal one, which is currently used by Wizz Air and charter airlines. Still the airline insists that it will move back to terminal two after construction work is completed, which it says will take at least a month.

Belgrade Airport was recently left without a customer as Spanair suspended all of its operations. Nevertheless, the airport will hope to materialise on Jat’s summer expansion as well as frequency increases from many airlines. In 2012 the airport hopes to handle more passenger than in its record breaking 1987, when it welcomed 3.3 million travellers.

Priština overtakes Ljubljana as third busiest airport in the former Yugoslavia

Priština has finished 2011 as the third busiest airport in the former Yugoslavia, for the first time since it opened its doors in 1965. The dethroned Ljubljana Jože Pučnik Airport fell into fourth place with Dubrovnik Airport hot on its heels. A total of six airports managed to handle more than one million passengers.

Ljubljana Airport was affected by Adria Airways’ crisis last year and its significant reduction of flights, which were felt during the months of August, November and December. Since January the airport has recorded declining or break even numbers compared to those from 2010, with the exception of April when the airport saw significant growth. As a result, Slovenia’s capital city airport welcomed just under 1.370.000 passengers, a decrease of 1.3% compared to 2010. It should be taken into account that Ljubljana was closed for almost an entire month in 2010. Since 2008, when Ljubljana saw record traffic by handling 1.673.050 passengers, its figures have steadily decreased each year. Ljubljana Airport expects lower traffic volumes and revenue in 2012. Still, the airport says that Adria’s decline should be substituted by foreign airlines and charter flights this year.

Priština Airport handled 1.422.302 passengers, an increase of almost 9%. The three busiest airlines operating out of Priština were Edelweiss, Adria Airways and Belle Air. The most popular destinations out of the city were Zurich, Vienna and Dusseldorf. As has previously been reported, Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport is well ahead of its competition and in 2011 strengthened its position as the busiest airport in the former Yugoslavia. Other notable achievements were recorded by Zagreb, Dubrovnik, Skopje, Ohrid and Tivat. Joining Ljubljana as the only EX-YU capital city airport to see its figures decline in 2011 was Podgorica.

Below you can review the number of handled passengers by the ten busiest airports in the former Yugoslavia in 2011:

Airport	Passengers 2011	Passengers 2010	Change (%)
Belgrade	3.124.633	2.698.730	▲ 15.8
Zagreb	2.319.098	2.071.561	▲ 11.9
Priština	1.422.302	1.305.532	▲ 8.9
Ljubljana	1.370.000	1.388.651	▼ 1.3
Dubrovnik	1.349.501	1.270.062	▲ 6.3
Split	1.300.381	1.219.741	▲ 8.1
Skopje	759.928	681.080	▲ 11.6
Tivat	647.169	542.000	▲ 19.4
Podgorica	611.666	651.478	▼ 6.1
Sarajevo	599.996	563.266	▲ 6.5

Businessmen taking over Jat

The Serbian Minister for Infrastructure yesterday announced that the government is finalising an agreement with local businessmen to invest into a successor to Jat Airways, which will become Serbia’s new national carrier. A total of ten businessmen are willing to invest into the new airline in return for an ownership stake. “I can’t tell you which businessmen are in question because they are very sensitive people who have their own interests and reasons. Give us another week or two", the minister told the media at a press conference.

One of the businessmen being tipped to be interested in investing into the new Jat is Miroslav Mišković, the owner of the Delta Holding company, which has been named the 86th most successful company in Central Europe by Deloitte with recorded revenue of over one billion Euros in 2011. Several years ago Mišković was interested in creating Serbia’s first low cost airline, Air Maxi, in cooperation with Aviogenex but in the end stepped away from such plans.

The Serbian minister for infrastructure states that the new company will be created before the end of the government’s four year term. Serbs are set to go to the polls on May 6 this year. The minister further states that the new Jat would have a completely new management and would take over Jat’s existing fleet with new aircraft to be ordered in 2013. He further adds that the new company would take over Jat’s employees and will operate with a profit.

Spanair ceases all operations

At midnight Spanair, Spain’s second largest airline, ceased operations after the carrier failed to find a buyer. On Friday, Qatar Airways had walked away from talks to take over the money losing airline after months of negotiations. The government of Spain's Catalonia region is Spanair's main shareholder, while Spanair's former owner, Scandinavian airline SAS, still owns an 11.9% stake. However, the Catalan government says it can no longer finance the airline.

Spanair has ceased all operations, suspending with it scheduled flights to Belgrade and its planned seasonal summer service to Zagreb and Dubrovnik. During this winter season, Spanair operated three weekly flights between Barcelona and Belgrade and on Friday morning announced it would increase the service to four times per week during the summer. Furthermore, the airline has also operated seasonal flights from Madrid to the Serbian capital in the past. Zagreb Airport will also be at a loss as Spanair operated seasonal flights to the Croatian capital from its Barcelona base. Last summer, Spanair also operated flights from Barcelona and Madrid to Dubrovnik. As Star Alliance partners, Spanair and Croatia Airlines code shared on each others' flights.

As a result, Jat Airways is now likely to resume seasonal summer flights to Girona while Iberia and Vueling Airlines will be operating flights from several Spanish cities to Dubrovnik and Split. Croatia Airlines should resume seasonal summer flights from Zagreb to Barcelona.